Resource Futures to deliver composition testing for UBB MBT plant

Environmental consultancy Resource Futures has been appointed to deliver composition testing for Urbaser Balfour Beatty’s (UBB) mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plant in Essex.

As part of the contract, Resource Futures will deliver three waste compositional audits between now and July 2015. These audits will each involve the analysis of 12 one-tonne samples of incoming material at the facility at Courtauld Road, Basildon, to ‘build a representative breakdown of the type of material the Basildon MBT is receiving’.

The two companies said they were “excited” and “delighted to be working together”, with Sam Reeve, Operations Director at Resource Futures, adding: “Determining a detailed composition profile for the material will help to make sure that the Basildon MBT plant is optimised to work as efficiently and effectively as possible.”

The plant, currently in its commissioning phase, mechanically processes Essex County Council and Southend Borough Council’s residual waste (up to 417,000 tonnes) to sort and separate any recyclates, which are then sent for reprocessing elsewhere.

The remaining waste is then composted over a seven-week period to remove moisture and biodegrade. The degraded material is then refined to ‘extract minerals’ for use as construction aggregate.

Whatever remains of the original feedstock is then used to create either stabilised output material for use in landfill, or solid recovered fuel that can be incinerated for energy recovery.

Find out more about UBB’s Essex MBT plant.

Construction starts on Allerton Waste Recovery Park

Work on Allerton Waste Recovery Park, North Yorkshire’s new energy-from-waste (EfW) plant near Knaresborough is now underway. The incinerator was granted approval by the local council last year, despite strong local opposition from groups such as the North Yorkshire Waste Action Group (NYWAG).

From 2018, the North Yorkshire County Council, City of York Council and waste management company AmeyCespa’s joint incineration project will burn around 320,000 tonnes of household and commercial waste each year, generating enough renewable electricity to power around 40,000 homes. The entire power output of the plant was recently bought by energy company GDF SUEZ Energy UK.

Representatives from both the councils joined the operational team and representatives from financial and technology partners to take part in a ground-breaking ceremony marking the beginning of the three-year construction programme earlier this month.

Councillor Tracey Simpson-Laing, Cabinet Member for Communities at City of York Council, commented: “This is the largest capital investment City of York Council has ever procured. It is a fantastic example of how partnership working has really come together.

“Allerton Waste Recovery Park will create a huge boost for our economy and for our region – creating hundreds of jobs for construction and operation, whilst significantly reducing the amount of waste going to landfill and helping to increase our recycling performance.”

Find out more about the Allerton Waste Recovery Park.

Countrystyle wins Kent waste transfer station contract

Kent-based resource management company Countrystyle Recycling has been appointed by Commercial Services Kent Ltd (a Kent County Council wholly owned company) as the waste haulage and plant operator for two waste transfer stations in Kent – North Farm at Tunbridge Wells (the scene of a recent murder) and Dunbrik at Sevenoaks.

The four-year contract (1 April 2015 – 30 June 2019), worth approximately £6 million, will see the company manage the haulage of over 116,000 tonnes of material per year.

The materials will be collected by Countrystyle and transported to various treatment and disposal sites including the company’s own recycling facility in Ridham, near Sittingbourne.

Alan Horton at Commercial Services Kent Ltd, said: “We are pleased to have awarded our waste haulage and plant hire contract to Countrystyle Recycling. Key to the operation of any waste transfer station is the efficiency of the on-site loading and movement of the various waste streams off-site. Commercial Services is certain that Countrystyle is the right operator to provide this efficient level of service given their reputation for delivery in the market.”

Countrystyle’s Managing Director, Chris Howard, said that the company was “delighted” to have been awarded the contract for “these key collection facilities”

Find out more about Countrystyle Recycling.

Remondis produces aerosol recycling bins

Waste processing organisation Remondis UK has launched a new recycling collection service for used aerosols.

Via the new service, organisations will receive specially-designed flat-pack containers for the collection of used aerosol cans, which – when full – Remondis will collect and send for recycling, before posting additional containers through the post.

Louise Holt, joint Managing Director at Remondis UK, commented: "Aerosol collections can sometimes be challenging, as they often require the cans to be moved through a number of different containers before being packed for shipment to recycling facilities. To overcome this challenge, our UN-approved container looks just at home in an office, local authority civic amenity site or retail backyard, as it does in transportation."

Find out more about the aerosol containers email sales@remondis.co.uk

New biomass plant set for Northamptonshire

Environmental engineering firm MWH Treatment (a subsidiary of MWH Global) has been appointed to design, construct, operate and maintain a new biomass plant in Northamptonshire.

The £51.5-million Welland Bio Power Plant, developed by Cogen (formerly Carbonarius) and Balfour Beatty (with investment partners Noy Infrastructure & Energy Investment Fund and Equitix MA Infrastructure Fund) will annually gasify approximately 60,000 dry tonnes of wood waste (supplied by local company Welland Waste Management Limited) to produce enough electricity to power more than 17,000 homes.

The project, which expected to come online in March 2017, will create over 100 construction jobs and 19 full-time jobs once operational.

This is the MWH’s second waste wood gasification project in the UK, following the MWH Treatment contract for the Birmingham Bio Power plant at Tyseley, which is scheduled for completion and launch in early 2016.

Ian Miller, MWH Operations Director, commented: “This new plant signals that the UK looking towards more energy-from-waste solutions. This will be the second power plant of its type and we think this new deal signals an industry shift towards similar types of projects moving forward, in order to help fill the energy gap that currently exists as well as diverting waste from landfill…

“As well as producing clean renewable energy, this project will also ensure local jobs as well as supporting local business.”

Find out more about MWH Global.